Lipstick containers

ABSTRACT

Tubular lipstick container sleeve having a longitudinal slot and being in slidably relationship with a coaxial external housing sleeve having a helical slot and with an internal lipstick carrying cup a peg of which engages the slots. The body having at one end a base portion for facilitating its rotation has at its other end at least two inward deformations extending over a portion of the circumferential extent of that end releasably ejecting a protective lipstick sheet the first time the lipstick is operated and reducing the wobbling tendency of the lipstick.

United States Patent Webster LIPSTICK CONTAINERS [75] Inventor: EdwardWebster, Dorset, England [73] Assignee: Sebec Societe dExploitation dcBrevets dEmballage Cosmetique S.A., Fribourg, Switzerland [22] Filed:Sept. 29, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 293,370

30 Foreign Application Priority m Oct. 1, 1971 s21 U.s.c|. 401/78 51 m.C] ..A45d 39/10 58 Field ofSearch.. 401/68, 75-78, 401/87, as

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,706,354 12/1972 Gruska401/78 Great Britain 45692/71 Apr. 23, 1974 3,706,500 12/1972 Gruska401/78 Primary Examiner Lawrence Charles Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Dressler, Goldsmith, Clement & Gordon, Ltd.

[ ABSTRACT Tubular lipstick container sleeve having a longitudinal 10Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPR 23 1914 v rrlrt E 1 "1 LIPSTICKCONTAINERS This invention relates to containers for lipstick,

salves and other similar cosmetic materials, commonly known as lipstickcontainers, and primarily to those of the kind in which there are twocoaxial sleeves, known as the body-and spiral, one having a longitudinalslot and the other a helical slot, and a cup or godet carrying thelipstick itself, the cup or godet having a peg engagthe containerandpouring the molten lipstick through a hole in the bottom of the cup.The sheath remains in place until the user first projects the lipstickto a level at which the sheath is substantially wholly clear of the bodyand spiral, whereupon subsequent retraction of the lipstick causes thelower end of the sheath to catch 2 shape, freefrom ridges, pipsor'slots. The resilienceof the sheet metal of the body ensures that itimposes no serious restraint on the initial projection of the lipstickwhilsts its sha'rp edge ensures reliable ejection of the sheath by theflats when the lipstick is retracted.

Even where there is no sheath the flats have a beneficial effect in thatthey resiliently and firmly but gently grip the sides of the cup whenthe cup is in its fully projected position, opposing any tendencyof thecup to wobble or til-t. i

The invention will now be further described by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

on the upper end of the body or spiral (or the inturned flange of asleeve that fits over them), so that thesheath isnot retracted but ispushed off the lipstick and falls clear. This is'known as the Ejectoretprocess. Because.

of the, difficulties with tolerances. in the components (especiallywherethe body and spiral are moulded in plastics) and friction or adhesionbetween the lipstick and sheath, trouble can, be experienced in ensuringreleasable ejection of the sheath the first time the lipstick containeris operated, andvarious proposals have been made for modifying the formof the skirt of the sheath or the upper end of the body-spiral-sleeveassembly with the aim of elimination the trouble.

An aim of the invention, where it is applied to lipstick containersemploying an ejectable sheath, is to overcome this trouble. i

In lipstick containers of the general kind employing a cup that ismovable within a tubular body it is sometimes found that the cup, whenin the fully projected position, hasa cei'tain amount of freedomIOI'IIII or wobble'fwith respect to the body and this makes it difficultforithe user to hold the lipstick steady when apply-. ing it. A furtheraim of the invention is to reduce this tendency to wobble.

According to the invention'there is now proposed a tubular body for alipstick container comprising a sheet metal tube provided with anelongated slot in its wall capable of receiving and guidinga pegprojecting from a cup slidable in the body, a base portion at one endforfacilitating rotation of the body, and at its other end at least twoinward deformations such as flats over-only a portion of the.circumferential extent of that end.

Preferably there are just two inward deformations arranged diametricallyoppo'site each other, but there could be three, four or more, preferablyevenly spaced around the rim. The deformations can be in the form ofsimple flats, defining'chords to the circle that forms the innerdiameter of the associated end of the body. Where this body is used inconjunction with Ejectoret system, employing a sheath over the lipstick,the sheath is pushed upwards past these flats the first time thelipstick is fullyprojected, and then when it is retracted the lover edgeof the sheath engages the upper edges of the flats and is pushed off.The sheath can be of simple ing to the invention, with FIG. 1 shows thebody of a lipstick containeraccorda cup and sheath in-the fullyprojected position; i k I FIG. 2 is a plan view of the body alone,looking from above;

FIG. 3 is an outside elevation of the body alone, looking in thedirection of the arrow A in FIG. .2; and

FIG. 4 shows how the body co-operates with the cup in a version thatdoes not use a sheath,

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, a body I of sheet metal i is in theform of a tube with alongitudinal slot 2 engaged by aradiallyextending'p'eg 3 on a'cup or godet 4 thatcarries the lipstick,salve or other cosmetic material. In the complete lipstick container thebody 1 is enclosed in a so-called spiral, which. is acylindrical tubecontaining a helical slot also engaged by the peg 3, so

that relative rotation of the body and spiral caused the cup 4 to bemoved axially to project and retract the lipstick in a well-knownmanner. The lower end of the body 1 is enlarged at 5 to form a base thatreceives a base cap (not shown) to be graspedby the users'fin' gers forrotating the body. a In the version shown in FIG. 1 a sheath 60ftransparent mouldedsynthetic resin fits onto the upper end of the cup 4and encloses the lipstick or salve. For this purpose the upper end ofthe cup has a portion 7 of reduce diameter,.terminating in a bead 8. Thesheath 6 has a flexible skirt 9 that fits over the head 8.

In the retractedposition of the 'cup 4 and sheath 6 the skirt liesinside the'body l,.but when the cup is fully projected 'for the, firsttime to" the position shown in FIG. tine skirt 9 of thevsheath springsclear of the body, so that on subsequent retraction of the cup, the

skirt engages against the body and so the sheath remains stationary asthe cup and-lipstick are retracted, and the sheath can fall away. Thisis'the known socalled Ejectoret process and is disclosed in certainBritish Patent Specifications such as No. 1,280,635 of Sebec S,A.

The body 1 is, as. stated above, made of sheet metal and again is ofbasically known form, being formed from steel strip by a pressingoperation that rolls .it up i to form a cylinder witha gap left todefine the slot 2 and with the base 5 and a rib .10. Simultaneously withthe pressing operation we form in the upper end of the body twodiametrically opposed flats 11, formed by deflecting the upper rim ofthe blank inwards at these points.

These flats 1] reduce the effective diameter of the upper end of thebody, not as a whole (as would be obtained for example by forming acontinuous rolled-in rim or bead) but only in localised regions, infactacross a single diameter where there are only two opposed flats. Aswill be seen in FIG. 2, one of theflats straddles the narrowed upper endof the slot 2 in the example shown. However there could be more than twoflats,

and they need not necessarily be at diametrically opposite points,although generally it will be preferably for them to be uniformly spacedaround the circumference of the body.

As the cup 4, with the sheath 6 in it is fully projected the skirt 9 ofthe sheath is able to spring past the flats 11, being free to deflectinto the reduced portion 7 of the cup and then spring out again whenclear of the flats, then when the cup is subsequently retracted thelower edge of the skirt engages the flats and causes the sheath to bepositively pushed off. Experience with this form of engagement has shownthat it is possible to be much more confident of reliable and cleanejection of the sheath than with a body employing simply a continuousinturned rim or head, and especially one of moulded synthetic resin.

In the preferred embodiment, where the inside diameter of the body is0.518 inch and its wall thickness 0.010 inch, the flats are inclinedinwards at between 13 and to the axis of the body and the distancebetween them is 0.508 inch.

As indicated above, a body with flats 11 may also be used in normallipstick containers having no sheath 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the cup 4'here is of plain cylindrical shape without the reduced portion 7, and itprojects partially through the upper end of the body in the fullyadvanced position, so that the flats ll bear lightly against its wall onopposite sides and assist in keeping the cup stable during use of thelipstick.

The flats 11 as shown define simple chords (looking axially) to a circledefined by the inner diameter of the associated end 7 of the body 1.However it will be understood that they may have a different shape indetail, even though flats are the simplest shape, and the preferred one.

- Also the invention may be applied where the body 1 has a helical slot,and the tube outside it an axial one, the action being the same.

What is claimed is:

1. In an improved container for a lipstick or similar stick of pastymaterial, comprising a cylindricalv cup adapted to hold said stick andprovided with at least one radially and outwardly extending pegprojecting through a longitudinal slot provided in an innercylindricalsleeve having an upper end and coaxially ,surrounding said cup, said pegalso'engaging a helical slot provided in an outer cylindrical sleevecoaxially surrounding said inner sleeves, said cup being mounted foraxial displacement within said inner sleeve between a retracted positionand projecting position relative to said upper end, and the inner sleevebeing rotatable within said outer sleeve, in which the improvementcomprises said inner sleeve being made of sheet metal, said inner sleeveproviding at said upper end at least two, circumferentially equidistant,inwardly directed deformations, such as radially flattened and inwardlyinclined portions of said inner sleeve upper end, adapted to engageperipheral portions of said cup to provide stability for said stick inthe projecting position, said longitudinal slot extending to said upperend of said inner sleeve. I

2. The holder of claim 1, wherein one of said deformations straddles theupper end of said longitudinal 'said inner sleeve.

5. The holder of claim 1, wherein said inner sleeve is made from aplanar sheet metal blank.

6. A container for a lipstick or similar stick of pasty materialcomprising: an inner, sheet metal, cylindrical sleeve having an upperend and outer cylindrical sleeve 1 coaxially surrounding said innersleeve; a cylindrical cup adapted to hold said stick and provided withat least one radially and outwardly extending peg projecting through alongitudinal slot provided in said inner sleeve, said inner sleevecoaxially surrounding said cup, said peg also engaging a helical slotprovided in said outer sleeve, said cup being mounted for axialdisplacement within'said inner sleeve between a retracted position and aprojecting position relative to said upper end, and said innersleevebeing rotatable within'said outer sleeve, said stick being contained ina projecting shell having an open end telescoped over the open end ofsaid cup, said inner sleeve having at its upper end at least two,circumferentially equidistant, inwardly directed deformations, such asradially flattened and inwardly'inclined portions of said inner sleeveupper end, whereby said deformations act to strip said shell from saidstick when said cup is returned to a retracted position from an initialprojecting position, and said deformations engaging peripheral portionsof said cup to provide stability for said stick in the projectingposition, said longitudinal slot extending to said upper end of saidinner sleeve.

7. The holder of claim 6, wherein one of said deformations straddles the.upper end of said longitudinal slot.

8 The holder of claim'6, wherein said inner sleeve upper end has twodeformations which are arranged at diametrically opposite locations. I

9. The holder of claim 6, wherein each one ofsaid deformations is a flatwhich is inclined inwardly at an angle of between 13 and 20 to thelongitudinal axis of said inner sleeve.

10. The holder of claim 6, wherein said inner sleeve is made from aplanar sheet metal blank.

T UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE T T CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent Ne.3.806.262 Dated April 23, 1974 InventoT-(s) Edward Webster T It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent end thateeid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column. 2 lines 40-41; "reduce" shoii ld be 9- educed Claim 6 coiumnline 32, '."prejectihg?'-ehou1d be T protecting T T s ig n'ed anfisea led this 10th day OffTS'epte nbe 1974;

(Si m A'ttest: T i IMCCOY M; GIBSON; JR. C, MARSHALLVDANN AttestingOfficer Commissioner of Patents T

1. In an improved container for a lipstick or similar stick of pastymaterial, comprising a cylindrical cup adapted to hold said stick andprovided with at least one radially and outwardly extending pegprojecting through a longitudinal slot provided in an inner cylindricalsleeve having an upper end and coaxially surrounding said cup, said pegalso engaging a helical slot provided in an outer cylindrical sleevecoaxially surrounding said inner sleeves, said cup being mounted foraxial displacement within said inner sleeve between a retracted positionand projecting position relative to said upper end, and the inner sleevebeing rotatable within said outer sleeve, in which the improvementcomprises said inner sleeve being made of sheet metal, said inner sleeveproviding at said upper end at least two, circumferentially equidistant,inwardly directed deformations, such as radially flattened and inwardlyinclined portions of said inner sleeve upper end, adapted to engageperipheral portions of said cup to provide stability for said stick inthe projecting position, said longitudinal slot extending to said upperend of said inner sleeve.
 2. The holder of claim 1, wherein one of saiddeformations straddles the upper end of said longitudinal slot.
 3. Theholder of claim 1, wherein said upper end of said inner sleeve has twodeformations which are arranged at diametrically opposite locations. 4.The holder of claim 1, wherein each one of said deformations is a flatwhich is inclined inwardly at an angle of between 13* and 20* to thelongitudinal axis of said inner sleeve.
 5. The holder of claim 1,wherein said inner sleeve is made from a planar sheet metal blank.
 6. Acontainer for a lipstick or similar stick of pasty material comprising:an inner, sheet metal, cylindrical sleeve having an upper end and outercylindrical sleeve coaxially surrounding said inner sleeve; acylindrical cup adapted to hold said stick and provided with at leastone radially and outwardly extending peg projecting through alongitudinal slot provided in said inner sleeve, said inner sleevecoaxially surrounding said cup, said peg also engaging a helical slotprovided in said outer sleeve, said cup being mounted for axialdisplacement within said inner sleeve between a retracted position and aprojecting position relative to said upper end, and said inner sleevebeing rotatable within said outer sleeve, said stick being contained ina projecting shell having an open end telescoped over the open end ofsaid cup, said inner sleeve having at its upper end at least two,circumferentially equidistant, inwardly directed deformations, such asradially flattened and inwardly inclined portions of said inner sleeveupper end, whereby said deformations act to strip said shell from saidstick when said cup is returned to a retracted position from an initialprojecting position, and said deformations engaging peripheral portionsof said cup to provide stability for said stick in the projectingposition, said longitudinal slot extending to said upper end of saidinner sleeve.
 7. The holder of claim 6, wherein one of said deformationsstraddles the upper end of said longitudinal slot.
 8. The holder ofclaim 6, wherein said inner sleeve upper end has two deformations whichare arranged at diametrically opposite locations.
 9. The holder of claim6, wherein each one of said deformations is a flat which is inclinedinwardly at an angle of between 13* and 20* to the longitudinal axis ofsaid inner sleeve.
 10. The holder of claim 6, wherein said inner sleeveis made from a planar sheet metal blank.